Reconciliation
by CommChatter
Summary: In the wake of a devastating loss, Raoul Tano's daughter needs help coping with her grief.


**Hi all. This is one of my promised oneshots. It happens in the same universe as my other fic, _Change of Destiny_, though I can't guarantee that events alluded to in this story will actually happen.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I did, however, create Raoul and Shaak Tano for my own amusement. **

_The following story takes place twenty-four years after the events of Change of Destiny and twenty-one years after the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star, sometime during the Yuuzhan Vong war._

The funeral, such as it was, had ended almost two hours before. Without his body, the Jedi had simply built the pyre and burned a set of his dark brown master's robes.

Only one being remained, watching what was left of the logs smolder into insignificant ash. She bore a remarkable resemblance to the master who had died, and Jinn Skywalker set forward to sit next to his best friend's daughter. Without comment, he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She scooted into the embrace, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Tear filled blue eyes met his. Set in an orange face with white marks on her cheeks, eyebrows, chin and across the bridge of her nose, the black and white striped montrails reminded him painfully of his dead best friend.

A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. "Why did he have to die?" her voice cracked and more tears leaked out. The sight of it threatened to break Jinn's heart. It reminded him of his daughter Alex's grief when her and James's mother died.

The desolate look in her eyes took him back to the Rebellion, watching his mother's corvette gunship explode from the bridge of _Home One_, the shocked silence from his father, brother, and sisters that was somehow worse than any shouts or scream of denial. The grief that had enveloped his father had driven him to single mindedly pursue the destruction of the Empire and nearly drove him to the Dark Side.

Raoul would never forgive him if he allowed Shaak to do so. Tightening his one-armed hug, he met her eyes. "He was protecting you,"

Shaak sniffed. "I failed him,"

"You think that now." Jinn said. "But given time, you'll know that it wasn't your fault."

Her Force-presence's flash of disbelief made it clear that she didn't believe that. And her desire to be left alone. She shifted away from him, shaking off his arm.

Jinn didn't comment as she shifted away, tears trailing salty tracks down her cheeks. He stood and put a hand on her shoulder, a show of silent support. "He'd be proud of you."

Then he turned with an almost silent _swish _of his robes to disappear back the way he had come. Movement caught Jinn's eye and he paused to look back over his shoulder. The air seemed to shimmer and glow, taking on the form of a being. Jinn inclined his head at the apparition, then turned and left for the meeting that Luke had called.

STAR WARS

Shaak waited until her Jedi Master had vanished back into the turbolift that he had arrived in before contradicting his statement in a derisive, sarcastic tone. "Yeah, he'd be _real_ proud of me."

A heart-achingly familiar voice made her jump nearly a foot in the air. "You don't believe that, do you?"

Shaak spun on her heel and froze, jaw dropping at what she saw before her. "_Dad!?_" raw pain, sorrow and disbelief sounded in her voice.

The Togruta standing before her was most definitely her father. The white facial markings, so similar to her own, were unmistakable, as was the scar that cut across the right side of his face and montrail, the result of an explosion that he had been caught in at the height of the Rebellion that he had somehow survived. It was him, but…

He was glowing. It wasn't the type of glowing where someone would say, _'Oh you're glowing,'_. He was literally glowing. His body, clad in an off-white tunic with tan trousers and dark brown robes, was framed in a corona of glowing, golden light.

Raoul opened his arms and did one slow, theatrical turn that reminded Shaak of his dramatic flair. He repeated his question. "You don't believe that, do you Shaak?"

Speechless for only a second longer, Shaak snapped her mouth shut with an audible _click_ of teeth, then she sank back down heavily on the bench that Lowbacca had brought up for the funeral. She asked the first question that came to mind. "How are you here?"

Raoul smiled. "When we Jedi die, our spirits become one with the Force, and our bodies vanish. We retain our consciousness within the Force. You remember what Master Yoda taught me?"

Shaak blinked, tears running unheeded down her face. "'_Luminous beings are we_,'" she paused, eyes widening. "'_Not this crude matter_.' That's true?"

Raoul sat next to her and reached a hand out to rest on her shoulder. It felt like a soft warm breeze, just a whisper across her shoulder. "I'm here, aren't I? Unfortunately, I don't have much time. Shaak, you need to listen to me. What happened at Devaron was not your fault." He put up a hand to stop her from protesting. "You did the right thing, and for that, I'm very proud of you."

"I left you," Shaak protested. Her tears had stopped, leaving her eyes bloodshot and salt tracks down both sides of her face.

"You were doing what I told you to do, and you saved over twenty thousand innocents from the Yuuzhan Vong. You saved Thalia and Liam. I would have died anyway, as would all of you." Raoul paused and looked at her seriously. "There is a storm coming. Devaron and Sernpidal won't be the only planets destroyed. The Jedi must be ready when it hits, because it might just tear them apart."

Raoul's body was starting to fade, growing paler with every passing second to be almost transparent. His hand reached out to gently whisper across her cheek. "I am very proud of you, Shaak. I love you, don't ever forget that. Tell your brother-" He was completely gone now, but his voice whispered, just a breath against her ear. "I love you,"

Shaak was left standing on the rooftop of the Great Temple, the gas giant of Yavin and the many moons clearly visible in the starry sky. She felt oddly light, her father's words echoing in her ears. _I am very proud of you, Shaak. I love you." _

She was finally able to let go. "Good bye, Dad. I love you,"

**Read and review! Tell me what you think!**

**Thanks**

**-CommChatter**


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